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Department of Tourism & Hospitality

We are recognised globally as a leading contributor to knowledge creation and dissemination in tourism and hospitality. A team of 35 academic staff and over 1,000 undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students make us one of the biggest and most prolific departments in the world. The combination of staff expertise and enthusiasm, knowledge excellence and cocreation with industry, generate innovation and best professional practice. Our approach is about creating value with everyone we work with, locally and globally, and to share the benefits with society.

Our approach to teaching is to inspire and empower - we want our students to develop their professional skills in a tourism and hospitality context, and to have the confidence to tackle future global challenges. We foster an intellectually challenging but nurturing educational environment, encouraging our students to develop not only professionally, but also personally.

We work closely with key academic and tourism industry professional bodies and associations, including the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), VisitBritain, VisitScotland, VisitWiltshire, Bournemouth Tourism, Merlin Entertainments Resort Theme Parks, TUI, Hilton Hotels, Corinthia Hotels and many others.

We are an Institute of Travel & Tourism Centre of Excellence, while many of our undergraduate and postgraduate degrees are accredited by the UNWTO. Some of our undergraduate degrees are also recognised by the Tourism Management Institute.

We also host the Annual Hospitality Conference in London with speakers from Marriott International, Red Carnation Hotels, the Shangri-La Hotel, the Institute of Hospitality Management, Accor International, InterContinental Hotels and Whitbread Premier Inn.

Our in-depth and cutting-edge research in tourism and hospitality means that what we do is always evidence-based. We have expertise in many different fields to address issues in a multidisciplinary and multicultural way. We aspire to drive the future innovation agenda globally. Our academics have, for example, worked with the Scottish government to provide the evidence base for business decisions made at prestigious tourism organisations, such as VisitScotland. Research funded by the European Commission contributes to the creation of the Holy Grail Route and the creation of accessible tourism innovations to support disabled travellers, as well as the promotion of vegetable consumption among adolescents and elderly.

We’re also home to three of the world's leading tourism journals: the International Journal of Tourism Research, Tourism Review and Tourism Economics, as well as the leading international textbook Tourism Principles and Practice, among other publications.

We are proud of our industry collaborations that enable us to cocreate best professional practice through constant interaction and engagement. We are privileged to work in Bournemouth and Poole, a living tourism and hospitality laboratory. This enables our research and teaching to have great relevance and impact in the global marketplace.

Professional practice

We want all of our students to be highly employable when they graduate, which is why working with businesses throughout their degrees is important. They can also bring a fresh perspective to your organisation.